And it Begins
My week has been crazy busy, between school papers, a giant school case project, quarterly performance reports (I work in an investments office), and dogs. I'm just trying to keep my schedule straightened out and right now its a big tangled up mess! Well maybe that's an overstatement...but it is crazy busy.
So it started on Friday with that lost Rottie/Lab Mix named Rebel.
Then Annie -
Annie - still in need of a home. |
I was contacted regarding Annie on Saturday - a Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppy who's owner needs to re-home her, after a bunch of phone calls one of my friends who couldn't help me with Annie, informed me of Bernard - a Basset Hound/Lab mix who her parents were re-homing due to separation anxiety issues. Unable to help Annie I kept my networking machine running and began to work on Bernard. Same day - new family, a friend of mine wanted Bernard and went and picked him up for an overnight trial run which has turned into a successful week with their family.
And Bernard -
Bernard, and yes he is a total lover! |
Then Jack!
Which leads me to Jack. On Wednesday my neighbor came over to see if one of my dogs had gotten out because he had a brindle in his yard playing with his Jack Russel named Bindy. Well being that my dogs were in the house I grabbed my slip lead and set off to catch the lost dog if I could.
He ended up not being very easy to catch but he loved Bindy so we opened his back gate and pretty soon we had both dogs in a securely fenced yard!
My neighbor ended up going inside to watch me through the window as I tried to get closer to the new fellow. He eventually allowed me to pet him and I gently dropped my slip lead over his head.
If you find a lost/stray dog - if you can get the dog into a fenced yard it makes the dog easier for Animal Control to pick up and keeps the dog from wandering off and possible being hit by a car. If the dog is friendly towards you, and allows you to pet him that is a good time to try and put a leash on him. If however the dog is standoffish, barking, growling, or shying away from you do not try to grab him instead call in an expert. If you grab a dog who does not want to be grabbed you are asking to be bitten - all dogs can bite, and it would be YOUR fault, however the dog would be the one punished.
Animal Control being closed we decided that we'd put him up for the night, my neighbor wasn't comfortable keeping the dog at his house so I told him I'd see if I could integrate him with Dante and Ziva after the hubby got home.
Best way to bond with a new dog? Go for a walk! We walked until hubby came home and then we slowly began to introduce the dogs. Not knowing his personality we spent about an hour slowly working Ziva up into walking next to him in a neutral location.
He was very interested in her, but it takes her a while to warm up to new dogs. Her initial reaction was that she didn't like him. After about an hour though they were sniffing nicely and he was showing very positive body language and friendly signals. In fact he never acted out once, even when Ziva corrected him for invading to far into her personal space.
Then we moved onto Dante. His reaction? WHAT, A NEW BEST FRIEND TO PLAY WITH?! AWESOME!!
With all three dogs getting along beautifully we decided to let them play in our fenced backyard and watch the group dynamics. Leashes at the ready of course, and they did great!
First things first...safety is key and having cats my next concern was if he had prey drive. We put him on the leash and I first walked him around the neighborhood - we have lots of outdoor cats in our area, he passed each one by without incident and only a mild interested glance when they scampered off. Feeling pretty good we brought him inside the house, our cats were extremely annoyed at a new dog in their domain but he was perfect! He barely looked at them and was capable of walking by nicely without showing any interest!
Next step? A bath. We had already checked him over for fleas and didn't see anything - thank goodness! Our kiddos are all flea medicated but I still didn't want to deal with that if possible.
Our first night went great! We kept him on a leash in the house just to be safe, and monitored him with the dogs. In the evening he slept in Ziva's crate in our room right next to Dante and Ziva's bed.
Day 2 - As per Oregon Law we called our local shelter and reported a found stray dog.
Ziva's collar fit him perfectly! Haha! |
Here is what we initially knew - he has zero training or manners, he is under-socialized and ignores humans as if they aren't in the room, he didn't initially like hubby, terrible leash manners, he's an intact male, he has worms, was terribly dirty, and had zero identification on him when I found him. Since his last family never bothered to care for him they probably won't bother looking for him.
According to the law you have to notify the shelter and make an attempt to find his family - so we also posted a notice on Craigslist.
After the shelter has been notified, his "family" has three days to claim him, after the three days are up we can re-home him or keep him ourselves. The shelter of course is happy to not take in another dog.
Because Jack was getting on beautifully at our home with our pups and cats, and not wanting to add to the burden of our local shelter, and with their permission we decided that he'd be our next foster dog!
Our best guess is that he was a transients dog who was either left behind or simply wandered off. We live on the edge of a highway and are the last block that is technically inside of city limits, we are constantly seeing transients and hitchhikers with their dogs, and our area tends to be where people dump their animals. Stray and lost dogs are constantly being picked up in our area heading either into or out of town.
Now we just hope no one claims his so that we can get this handsome fellow to a loving family!
Now we just hope no one claims his so that we can get this handsome fellow to a loving family!
Stay Tuned! More about Jack to Come!
Oh my goodness! You have had a seriously busy week!
ReplyDeleteOnce or twice a year some dog finds us when we are out walking and usually comes all the way home with us. We lead them into our fenced yard and call animal control. This area doesn't have stray cats or dogs normally, so it is usually a dog who has run away from home and they never seem to have collars or a collar with ID, or we would just call the owners. It does take a lot of extra time to get the dog off to where they belong, so with all those finds it would be crazy.
ReplyDeleteI wish more people would keep at least collars on their dog, but so long as the animal is chipped if animal control picks it up they'll make their way back home. :-) Nice of you to hold onto those dogs for the families.
DeleteWelcome Jack! What a good deed you did - I hope he finds a new home soon - with those eyes it should be easy!
ReplyDeleteI love his eyes! They're practically glow in the dark in low light settings. :-)
DeleteThis is the greatest thing I've read in a while. What a wonderful family you are. You did more for that doggie than most shelters can do, and you're fostering him!! Good for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari! He's fitting in great at our house! I'm really glad we are in a good position to help.
DeleteWow, you sure have had a busy week. Jack is a good looking dog, and I hope you get to foster him, so that his worms and neutering can be dealt with. praying he doesn't have heartworm. I'm sure you will teach him some sort of manners during his stay with you. Thank you for taking this one in temporarily. Jill
ReplyDeleteI'm really hoping the vet gives us the all clear regarding heartworms...not knowing his past health tests (if he's ever had one) is a bit scary. Thankfully though heartworms aren't a big issue in our area. And so far he is eating our food fine and doesn't seem to have any allergies, plus he's super smart so he's learning the rules at our house pretty quick. So far its been smooth sailing except for a couple small behavioral/bad manner issues. :-)
DeleteI absolutely love how detail-oriented you were with introducing Jack to your pack. A long walk on neutral territory with all pack members really IS the best way to introduce new pups to one another. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteThanks much! We have to take it slow with Ziva, we've worked hard on her fear reactivity but she still has problems with meeting new dogs sometimes, it just generally depends on the energy level of the dog she meets. She hates anxious dogs, over excitement (particularly puppies), and seems to do best with older more mellow dogs for initial meetings. Once she's met the dog though she's just fine. :-)
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